GOVERNOR CUOMO ANNOUNCES BRITISH AIRWAYS AND DELTA AIRLINES AGREE TO TEST ALL PASSENGERS BEFORE ENTERING NEW YORK STATE

By CUOMO PRESS OFFICE | December 21, 2020


Asks Virgin Atlantic to Join British Airways and Delta Airlines in Voluntarily Testing Passengers Before Boarding Flights to New York

6,331 Patient Hospitalizations Statewide

1,095 Patients in the ICU; 613 Intubated

Statewide Positivity Rate is 5.75%

109 COVID-19 Deaths in New York State Yesterday

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that in the wake of a new, highly contagious variant of the COVID-19 virus found in the United Kingdom, British Airways and Delta Airlines have voluntarily agreed to require a COVID-19 test before allowing passengers to board planes traveling from the United Kingdom to New York. With this move, New York joins the list of 120 countries with a similar requirement on flights from the U.K. The Governor has asked Virgin Atlantic, the other airline that runs flights from the U.K. to New York, to do the same. The Governor is also continuing to call on the federal government to impose enhanced travel restrictions, as 120 other countries have done, to avoid the same grave mistakes of the spring where the virus entered New York from Europe with no warning.

“When you do not require flights from the U.K to be tested, you are allowing thousands of U.K. passengers to arrive here every day and based on New York’s experience in the spring, I believe this new, highly contagious strain of COVID-19 is already here,” Governor Cuomo said. “This is another disaster waiting to happen and all efforts must be placed into averting another crisis. Now, it’s on the federal government to do its job, correct the wrongs of the past and take swift action to impose enhanced travel restrictions just as 120 other countries have done.”

Today’s data is summarized briefly below:

  • Test Results Reported – 156,510
  • Tested Positive – 9,007
  • Percent Positive – 5.75%
  • Patient Hospitalization – 6,331 (+146)
  • Patients Newly Admitted – 700
  • Hospital Counties – 55
  • Number ICU – 1,095 (+50)
  • Number ICU with Intubation – 613 (+13)
  • Total Discharges – 95,779 (+472)
  • Deaths – 109
  • Total Deaths – 28,709

The regional hospital bed capacity and occupancy numbers, including the number of hospitalizations as a percent of the region’s population, is as follows:

 

Region COVID Patients Currently in Hospital in Region COVID Patients as Percent of Region Population Percent of Hospital Beds Available in Region (7-Day Avg)
Capital Region 348 0.03% 25%
Central New York 407 0.05% 28%
Finger Lakes 735 0.06% 31%
Long Island 1,074 0.04% 25%
Mid-Hudson 745 0.03% 33%
Mohawk Valley 205 0.04% 31%
New York City 2,112 0.03% 28%
North Country 57 0.01% 49%
Southern Tier 174 0.03% 45%
Western New York 474 0.03% 29%
Statewide 6,331 0.03% 30%

 

The regional ICU bed capacity and occupancy numbers are as follows:

 

Region Total ICU Beds in Region Total Occupied ICU Beds in Region Percent of ICU Beds Available in Region (7-day Avg)
Capital Region 223 177 27%
Central New York 275 206 31%
Finger Lakes 397 266 31%
Long Island 828 616 26%
Mid-Hudson 712 425 42%
Mohawk Valley 132 93 27%
New York City 2,356 1,722 29%
North Country 71 34 50%
Southern Tier 125 79 37%
Western New York 545 327 43%
NYS TOTAL 5,664 3,945 32%

 

Yesterday, 156,510 test results were reported to New York State, and 5.75 percent were positive. Each region’s 7-day average percentage of positive test results reported over the last three days is as follows:

 

REGION FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY
Capital Region 6.78% 6.89% 6.92%
Central New York 6.98% 6.70% 6.64%
Finger Lakes 8.45% 8.34% 8.28%
Long Island 6.19% 6.30% 6.39%
Mid-Hudson 6.27% 6.36% 6.25%
Mohawk Valley 8.24% 8.18% 8.46%
New York City 4.22% 4.24% 4.28%
North Country 4.59% 4.99% 5.10%
Southern Tier 2.46% 2.49% 2.39%
Western New York 6.64% 6.37% 6.42%
Statewide 5.36% 5.38% 5.39%

 

Each New York City borough’s 7-day average percentage of positive test results reported over the last three days is as follows:

 

BOROUGH FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY
Bronx 4.78% 4.92% 5.01%
Brooklyn 4.33% 4.36% 4.43%
Manhattan 2.77% 2.72% 2.75%
Queens 4.80% 4.82% 4.83%
Staten Island 5.30% 5.38% 5.44%

 

Of the 857,049 total individuals who tested positive for the virus, the geographic breakdown is as follows:

 

County Total Positive New Positive
Albany 9,377 203
Allegany 1,576 17
Broome 7,083 79
Cattaraugus 2,055 18
Cayuga 2,118 98
Chautauqua 2,823 53
Chemung 4,106 23
Chenango 988 16
Clinton 804 9
Columbia 1,375 23
Cortland 1,745 32
Delaware 590 9
Dutchess 10,405 167
Erie 36,788 388
Essex 443 4
Franklin 591 15
Fulton 1,056 24
Genesee 2,080 39
Greene 999 12
Hamilton 85 3
Herkimer 1,495 44
Jefferson 1,344 42
Lewis 673 18
Livingston 1,432 34
Madison 1,897 32
Monroe 28,319 571
Montgomery 973 25
Nassau 77,088 766
Niagara 6,972 127
NYC 383,811 3,338
Oneida 9,571 166
Onondaga 17,860 274
Ontario 2,568 60
Orange 21,148 76
Orleans 1,081 25
Oswego 2,827 45
Otsego 1,016 11
Putnam 4,168 41
Rensselaer 3,226 58
Rockland 25,413 138
Saratoga 4,179 83
Schenectady 4,578 90
Schoharie 426 8
Schuyler 445 4
Seneca 607 21
St. Lawrence 1,613 29
Steuben 2,825 40
Suffolk 83,112 978
Sullivan 2,714 17
Tioga 1,480 9
Tompkins 1,798 17
Ulster 4,926 76
Warren 843 7
Washington 651 10
Wayne 2,018 41
Westchester 63,373 433
Wyoming 1,088 19
Yates 404 2

 

Yesterday, 109 New Yorkers died due to COVID-19 in New York State, bringing the total to 28,709. A geographic breakdown is as follows, by county of residence:

 

Deaths by County of Residence
County New Deaths
Albany 3
Bronx 3
Broome 2
Cattaraugus 1
Chautauqua 1
Chemung 1
Cortland 1
Erie 12
Genesee 1
Herkimer 1
Kings 3
Lewis 1
Livingston 1
Madison 3
Manhattan 1
Monroe 7
Montgomery 1
Nassau 6
Niagara 1
Oneida 5
Onondaga 5
Ontario 3
Orange 3
Orleans 1
Oswego 2
Queens 7
Rensselaer 2
Richmond 5
Rockland 1
Saratoga 1
Seneca 1
St. Lawrence 2
Suffolk 13
Ulster 1
Wayne 1
Westchester 5
Yates 1

 

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Additional news available at www.governor.ny.gov
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